Redemption
by Corde
Summary: Probably my favorite of my own fics. Short and dark, slightly graphic but nothing to hide from the kiddies. Spoilers for "Ides of March," but if you haven't seen that episode then you're not really a fan.


The world was darkness, and the darkness reigned

Disclaimers: They're mine, okay? I claim them, I own them, I made them up and write everything they do. I'm also the king of France. Except for the king and France parts. Either way, I'm not making money off of this, so don't sue me.

Short and dark, but with light at the end of the tunnel and all that. Season 4 finale spoilers. Wonderfully beta'ed by someone (probably Xenalish) a long long time ago.

Redemption 

The world was darkness, and the darkness reigned.

The darkness roared and sang. It lent a feral gleam to the eye and a cruel twist to the lips. The darkness called for blood, and pain, it gave joy in battle and anger at weakness. The darkness led and ruled. It dominated the body and mind, clouding judgement while honing reflexes to painful sharpness. The darkness spun an ever-tightening web around the heart, destroying emotions and annihilating all memory of them. The heart had been trapped by darkness so long that it had almost forgotten that it had ever known anything else.

Once the heart beat against the darkness, long ago when the light was only recently gone. The heart had strained to be heard, to be unmuffled by the darkness. Once it almost succeeded. Then the heart was suddenly broken, and it had no will left to fight the darkness, and so the darkness came unhindered. The darkness wrapped the broken pieces of the heart, and put it back together, and made it dark. Yet there was one piece of the heart that would not be made dark, the piece in the very center of the heart. Most of the time, the center of the heart was quiet. It sat in its cell of darkness and waited. Sometimes, when it was least expected, the center of the heart would cry out, and be heard. Those were the best times. But sometimes, when the center of the heart cried out, it would not be heard. Those were the worst times. 

Then the darkness broke. Barely perceptible at first; there was only a crack. It was ignored, and the darkness ruled for some time after. Then it cracked again.And light seeped in through the cracks, and called to the center of the heart. And the broken heart, which was held together by darkness, didn't have the strength to rule anymore. The heart broke again, but the darkness had held it so long that it didn't know what being broken felt like. The light grew, and more light creeped in. The heart began to be strong enough to put itself back together without the darkness, and emotions began to be remembered. The light outside was so strong, most of the darkness crumbled and fell, and its once-mighty empire turned to dust like so many ashes. The light inside and the light outside joined together and rejoiced, and the heart ached for the time it had spent in darkness.

But the darkness was far from vanquished. When the light outside would dim, for even a moment, the darkness inside would grow. It would send tendrils to the heart to try and shut out the light. Those were the worst times. But then the light outside would come back, and the darkness had no hold on the heart. And the heart was free, and there was light, and those were the best times.

Snowflakes burning ice cold on bare skin. Coarse, dirty rags for clothing, barely enough for modesty, if not for warmth. Rough, splintered wood rubbing against a bruised and bloody body. Rude yells and chuckles, men bending over and arranging limbs without thought of comfort, the smell of their sweat and hot breath. The pounding of a hammer sending shocks through the cross, the raw marks already forming on ankles and wrists. Blood and sharp pain just now registering, now being connected with the sounds of hammering, the feel of nails through hands and feet. 

The heart embraced the light, and the light embraced the heart, as the two souls on crosses desperately wished to do. Whispers all but cut to shreds by the wind.

"I love you, Gabrielle."

"I love you, Xena."

Then the light was no more, and darkness reigned again.


End file.
